St. Augustine, Homily 200 for the Epiphany

Magi come from the East to adore the Virgin's Child. Today we celebrate this event; we pay our respects and deliver a sermon in keeping with the feast. This day first shone resplendently for the Magi; its anniversary is renewed by us with a festal rejoicing. They were the first-fruits of the Gentiles; we are a nation of Gen- tiles. The words of Apostles announced His birth to us; a star was, as it were, the language of heaven for them; like the heavens, therefore, the Apostles announced the glory of God to us. Why should we not recognize as heavens those who have become the abode of God, as it is written: The soul of the just is the seat of wisdom? [Wis. 71] For, through these heavens [the Apostles], the One who made and who dwells in the heavens has sounded forth. The earth trembled at the sound and now, behold, it believes. O mighty mystery! The Lord lay in a manger, yet He drew the Magi from the East. He was hidden in a stable, yet He was acknowledged in the heavens, so that, thus recognized in the heavens, He might be manifested in the stable and that this day might be called the Epiphany or, in the Latin derivative, the Manifestation. Thus, at one and the same time, He set His seal of approval on His high and His lowly estate, so that He to whom the heavens bore witness by a starry sign might, when sought, be found in an insignificant dwelling where, helpless in His tiny frame and wrapped in swaddling clothes, He might be adored by the Magi and feared by the wicked.

Now, then, my dearly beloved sons and heirs of grace, look to your vocation and, since Christ has been revealed to both Jews and Gentiles as the cornerstone, cling together with most constant affection. For He was manifested in the very cradle of His infancy to those who were near and to those who were afar—to the Jews whose shepherds were nearby; to the Gentiles whose M gi were at a great distance. The former came to Him on the very day of His birth; the latter are believed to have come on this day. He was not revealed, therefore, to the shepherds because they were learned, nor to the Magi because they were righteous, for ignorance abounds in the rusticity of shepherds and impiety amid the sacrileges of the Magi. He, the cornerstone, joined both groups to Himself since He came to choose the foolish things of the world in order to put to shame the wise and to call sinners, not the just [Mt. 9, 13], so that the mighty would not be lifted up nor the lowly be in despair.

 

 

Vesperas I & Laudes: Prudentius

 

From Cantus XII of The Cathemerinon.  

 

Quicúmque Christum quæritis, (1)

óculos in altum tóllite:

illic licébit vísere

signum perénnis glóriæ.

 

Hæc stella, quæ solis rotam

vincit decóre ac lúmine,

venísse terris núntiat

cum carne terréstri Deum.

 

En, Pérsici ex orbis sinu,

sol unde sumit iánuam,

cernunt períti intérpretes

regále vexíllum magi.

 

«Quis iste tantus — ínquiunt —

regnátor astris ímperans,

quem sic tremunt cæléstia,

cui lux et æthra insérviunt?

 

Illústre quiddam cérnimus

quod nésciat finem pati,

sublíme, celsum, intérminum,

antíquius cælo et chao.

 

Hic ille rex est géntium

populíque rex Iudáici,

promíssus Abrahæ patri

eiúsque in ævum sémini».

 

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui te revélas géntibus,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

 All you who seek Christ, raise your eyes to the sky, there you will see a sign of eternal glory. This star, which in beauty and light triumphs over the rotation of the sun, proclaims to earth that God has come with earthly flesh. Look, Persians come from the part of earth where the sun makes its entrance, the Magi skilled in interpreting signs come to find the banner of the King. They ask “where is such a great Ruler of the stars who commands that the heavens tremble before him, whom the light and sky obey?

The brightness we found will know no end: the most high, heavenly, infinite, older than heaven and the formless void. This is the King of the nations, the King of the Jews, promised to Father Abraham and his seed forever. O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen.

 

Ad Officium lectionis: Prudentius

 

The continuation of Quicumque Christum quaeritis.

 Magi vidéntes párvulum

eóa promunt múnera,

stratíque votis ófferunt

tus, myrrham et aurum régium.

 

Agnósce clara insígnia

virtútis ac regni tui,

Puer, cui trinam Pater

prædestinávit índolem:

 

Regem Deúmque annúntiant

thesáurus et fragrans odor

turis Sabæi, at mýrrheus

pulvis sepúlcrum prædocet.

 

O sola magnárum úrbium

maior Bethlem, cui cóntigit

ducem salútis cælitus

incorporátum gígnere!

 

Hunc et prophétis téstibus

îsdémque signatóribus

testátor et sator iubet

adíre regnum et cérnere:

 

Regnum quod ambit ómnia

dia et marína et térrea

a solis ortu ad éxitum

et tártara et cælum supra.

 

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui te revélas géntibus,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

The Magi seeing the baby present him with gifts from the East, prostrate they offer prayers incense, myrrh and gold fit for kings. Child, recognize these clear signs of your power and your kingdom, to you the Father predestined a threefold nature. The treasure of gold and the fragrant smell of the incense of Sheba proclaim you King and God, while the myrrh dust foretells the tomb. Bethlehem, greater than all great cities, where the Captain of heavenly salvation took flesh and was born.  Here in accord with prophetic testimony and witness the Father and Testator commands that the kingdom come and be seen.  A kingdom which encompasses all things, divinity, sea and earth from the rising of the sun to its setting both the underworld and the heaven above.  O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen.

 

 

Vesperas II: Sedulius

This hymn continues A solis ortus cardine. The manifestation of Christ as threefold: to the Gentiles in the Magi; to the Jews in the baptism of Christ in the Jordan; and to the Apostles at the wedding in Cana. The three middle stanzas each in turn address the Magi, the Baptism and Wedding at Cana.

 

Hostis Heródes ímpie,

Christum veníre quid times?

Non éripit mortália

qui regna dat cæléstia.

 

Ibant magi, qua vénerant

stellam sequéntes præviam,

lumen requírunt lúmine,

Deum faténtur múnere.

 

Lavácra puri gúrgitis

cæléstis Agnus áttigit;

peccáta quæ non détulit

nos abluéndo sústulit.

 

Novum genus poténtiæ:

aquæ rubéscunt hýdriæ,

vinúmque iussa fúndere

mutávit unda oríginem.

 

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui te revélas géntibus,

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

Why, O impious Herod, do you fear the coming of Christ? He who gives a heavenly kingdom does not usurp mortal ones. Following the lead of the star, the Magi came to worship, by light they seek light, by their gifts they profess him to be God. The heavenly Lamb touched Jordan’s cleansing waters; by washing he took washed us from sins that were not his own. A new type of power: the water in the jars becomes red and by his command wine flows out, its nature transformed. O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen